Darkening Sky
by Ayame Karisuma
Summary: Hundreds of years before Ichigo became a Shinigami, Sora Koizumi was the captain of the 10th squad. She's loved by everyone until someone forces Sora to go to extreme lengths to keep her secrets hidden as she catches up with the present.
1. Fools in Love

The dark haired man rolls over on the bed looking up at the ceiling, breathing heavily. The woman next to him is breathing just as heavily. She turns over onto her stomach and supports herself on her forearms. She hangs her head down and lets her slightly damp, long black hair fall around her face.

When her breathing has calmed down she flips her hair back and turns onto her side to face her companion, propping her head up with her right hand. "Now, _that_ should be considered part of our training workout. It would make training that much better. Wouldn't you agree, Shunsui?" She gives him a coy smile.

Shunsui Kyōraku turns over to face her. "You have to know what you're doing for it to be a pleasurable workout. Plus, training comes very easily to you, Mi..."

"Don't you ever say that name!" Her copper eyes darken and are filled with hatred.

"Sorry, sorry, Sora-chan. I swear it will not happen again. I forgot how much you've worked to get rid of that name. Forgive me?"

Her eyes soften and she laughs as he makes his best puppy-dog face. "Alright, I forgive you. Just stop it with the face already", she laughs. She stands up and puts her shihakushō and haori back on, displaying the tenth division insignia. "Thanks for a wonderful night. I'll see you tomorrow night as well?" she confirms.

Shunsui sighs, "How can I say no to you, even if you have an ulterior motive."

Sora pouts, "I have needs too you know." She blows him a kiss and leaves for her own room.

The following morning Sora is talking with Retsu Unohana and Jūshirō Ukitake when Shunsui sneaks up behind her and grabs her butt.

"Ah! You pervert!" Sora slaps him. "How dare you!"

Unohana smiles, "You don't have to pretend. We know that you two have been keeping each other company at night."

Sora blushes. "I thought you might. Nothing gets past you, Unohana-san."

The group soon parts ways and Shunsui escorts Sora back to her office. On the way there, everyone they pass bows and greats them.

"Good morning, Kyōraku-taicho, Koizumi-taicho." Sōsuke Aizen greets the two.

As soon as they are out of ear shot, Sora whispers to Shunsui, "There's something about that kid I just can't put my finger on."

Shunsui rubs his chin thinking. "He's a good kid from what I've heard. He's made his way up in the ranks quickly. He looks like he's a very promising shinigami."

"His aura just seems to scream 'Evil' at me. Whenever I see him I have this sudden urge to run away or take up my zanpakutō against him. I don't think I can ever trust him for as long as I live."

"And what does my aura tell you?" He makes a kissy face at her.

"Baka." She simply states. At his down hearted look, she can't help but laugh. She looks around to see if anyone is watching before planting a passionate kiss on him. "Smile, it suits you better."

A goofy grin quickly makes its way onto his face as he chases after her.

Sora sighs as she finishes the last of the paper work for the day. She stretches her arms above her head and yawns causing her reading glasses to slip down her nose. It's the end of the day and there was more paper work to do today than normal.

"You should take a night off from visiting Shunsui-san. You're not getting enough sleep, Sora." The tenth squad vice-captain informs her captain. The sides of the girl's brown hair are pulled back and braided. She has bright blue eyes that sparkle with her smile.

"I appreciate your concern, Haruko, but for your information, I do not go over there every night." Sora blushes and mutters, "Just a few times almost every week." She pushes herself up using her desk for support. "Come on; let's go watch the sun set."

"Hai", Haruko beams at her captain.

It doesn't take the two long to reach the highest point in the Seireitei, the Sōkyoku. They sit at the edge if the cliff taking in the view of all of Soul Society.

"Why is it that the most beautiful spot in the Seireitei the spot for so much hurt and ruin?" Sora ponders out loud.

"Your guess is as good as mine."

"Haruko, what do you really think of my relationship with Shunsui?"

Haruko sits there thinking for a few minutes before answering. "Truthfully? I wonder what your relationship really is. Do you really like him or do you just like his company and pleasure? Either way, I'm happy that you have someone that you can trust in that much. You've known him for so long it was bound to come to this. He's the only one that I think gives you his full respect while still treating you like the woman that you are. I only wish I could find someone half as good as you have."

Sora grins wildly, "You're jealous!"

"I am not!" Haruko blushes a deep red.

Sora laughs and Haruko joins in. "Don't worry. There's someone out there that will make you happy. You'll find him someday, I know it."

Haruko sighs and lays down resting her head on Sora's lap. Sora strokes Haruko's hair as they watch the sun set in silence.

Later that night, Sora sneaks off to Shunsui's room. Everything that Haruko had said runs through her head once again. She taps lightly on the door before entering. Shunsui is sitting in his usual place with two cups and his limitless supply of sake.

She smiles and takes the seat across from him. "After a day like today, you always know exactly what I need." They raise their cups in cheers and drink. "I don't think I've ever seen that much paper work in my entire life. And I had Haruko and the others doing a lot as well."

Shunsui chuckles, "I know what you mean." He fills their cups again. Sora is about to drink when she pauses with the cup to her lips. "Is something wrong?" Shunsui now asks in concern.

She lowers her cup and shakes her head, "No, at least I don't think so, at least not at this moment." She downs her drink. "Not much more. I want to be able remember tonight."

"Very well then", he laughs.

After a few more rounds they head into Shunsui's bedroom. He delicately runs his fingers through her hair, staring into her eyes and smiling.

She returns his smile but her eyes say otherwise. "Shunsui, we've known each other for who knows how many years and we've been sleeping together for about the past twenty years, on and off. What do you really think of me? I… I mean, what is our relationship?"

He freezes not knowing how to respond. When the question finally registers to him, a number of different expressions cross his face as he takes her question seriously.

"Would it help if I said that no matter what your answer is, I'm not leaving tonight?" She raises an eyebrow at him making her intentions clear.

Shunsui sighs, "I'm not really sure if we have a specific title for our relationship. You know I can never fully grasp those kinds of emotions very well at all. You are a very close and dear friend to me and I don't want to do or say anything to change that. That's why I accepted our nights together because you approached me." He scratches his head. "I really don't know what else to say."

"So, we're good friends with benefits."

"I guess you could put it that way, unless you're looking for something more?"

She sighs and drops her shoulders. "I don't know. I do want someone to love and to love me but I don't know if I want it now or when. It's just all confusing. I wouldn't want it to get in the way of my duties as a captain, which I think we have accomplished over the years. I just don't know." She drops her head.

Shunsui gently cups her chin and brings her head up to meet her eyes. He smiles sweetly at her, "I know you'll find all the answers you're looking for one day. Until then, cheer up and enjoy the moment." She laughs softly as he leans in to kiss her. "Till then, you'll have me to entertain you." His lips brush against hers as he speaks.

"Oh?" She pulls back slightly. "Do you think that I'll need you till I find someone else?"

Shunsui realizes the corner he just backed himself into. "I'm sorry, but you aren't someone who changes easily." She raises an eyebrow questioning him. "I've been watching you since you were just the scrawny little girl who came in and became the youngest captain ever, which still stands today, and you haven't changed much at all since then. You're clothes and your hair have all remained the same over the years. You don't want to change anything that might remind you of who you use to be. Somewhere, you know that I'm right."

Sora pulls him closer and leans in to whisper in his ear, "I'll show you how capable I am of change." She shoves him up against the wall and runs her hands over his chest pushing his shihakushō off his shoulders.

He laughs energetically, "I think I'm going to enjoy change tonight." He starts to undress her as well.

A few hours later, Sora leaves a sleeping Shunsui as silently as possible so she doesn't wake him. As soon as she is back in her own room and shuts the door, she leans against the door. Tears start to roll down her cheeks as the conversations during the night come back to haunt her. Shunsui's words about their relationship secretly hurt her deeply. Her hands cover her face as she comes to terms with her true feelings for Shunsui. She stands there for a while before wiping her tear away and going to her bed. As she falls asleep, she knows what she needs to do.


	2. Life Again

The next morning all the seated members of squad ten gather for a sudden meeting. Haruko stands at the front of the group waiting patiently. The door behind her slides open and Sora walks in. The room immediately goes silent.

"Good morning everyone, I hope you're all doing well. Today I have something personal I need to take care of so I will be unavailable for the remainder of today. Haruko will be in charge and I expect all of you to help her out. Unless it's an emergency, the only one who is allowed to bother me is Haruko. Are there any questions? Good, there was a lot of paper work done yesterday so I don't think you will have much to do today. That is all." Sora turns to Haruko and nods, giving Haruko full control before she slips back into her room and shuts the door, not to be open the whole day.

Things go smoothly and like Sora said, there was not much to do. Everyone secretly whispers to each other their comments about what Sora is doing. They deeply respect their captain but are very concerned about her. She has never done something like this before. All they can do is wait patiently. The day passes by and night soon comes. No one in the tenth division knows anything about what Sora is doing, not even Haruko. Everyone eventually gives in to Haruko's whishes and goes to bed, still with nothing from their captain.

Sora emerges from her room in the early morning and makes her way slowly to the office. Opening the door, Sora smirks at the condition of her squad members. Almost all of them have found some place to rest since they did not sleep well out of concern for Sora.

Haruko is standing in the corner reading a book. She looks up and slams the book closed once she sees Sora. "Ohayou gozaimasu, taicho!" she uses the formal greeting to rouse the subordinates awake.

It works and everyone is scrambling to their feet within seconds. "Ohayou gozaimasu!" They then notice Sora and become awestruck with the captain's transformation.

Sora's hair now barely touches her shoulders. The sleeves of her haori come out just enough to cover her shoulders. The seams on her shihakushō have been adjusted to give it a more slimming look while still remaining flowing. Finally, a midnight blue sash wraps around her haori overlapping her obi yet leaving it slightly exposed above the sash.

Sora waits a minute before exclaiming, "Ok, enough gawking. Everyone back to work." She snickers as everyone rushes around in a mass of embarrassment. Only Haruko remains calm and shares Sora's amusement as she walks over to greet her captain.

"These need to be signed before your meeting." Haruko holds out a stack of about twenty papers.

"Ah, what time is the meeting at! I completely forgot about it."

Haruko tries to calm Sora down, "You still have fifty minutes until it starts. You have plenty of time."

Sora sighs and takes the papers form Haruko. She goes into her office and Haruko follows. Sora notices the tea sitting on her desk. She smiles, "Haruko, you didn't have to make tea."

"I thought you would need something to get your energy back." Haruko turns to leave for her own office when Sora stops her.

"You don't think that I can finish this all by myself do I?"

"Is that an invitation?" Sora nods to the extra seat as she pours two cups and hands one to Haruko who is taking the seat indicated to her. "You might as well sign the papers now so you're not rushing to do it five minutes before you leave like always."

Sora sticks out her tongue at Haruko but does just as Haruko says and quickly has them all signed. Sora holds up her cup. "Kanpai!" They hold up their cups in cheers before dinking.

Haruko examines Sora. "I can tell there's something that's bugging you that you're not saying. Either you're going to tell me or you're not but now would be a good time since no one else is here."

Sora sets down her cup and gives a sad smile to Haruko. "You know me all too well. Shunsui was right. I don't change but I want to so badly. I want to become a stronger support for the tenth squad. I want to be able to do anything and not be reminded of the past I've tried so hard to forget. I know what you're going to say, but I sometimes think that I should give up being a captain. I shouldn't even be a captain."

"You're right, you probably know what I'm going to say but I'm going to say it anyway. No matter what happened in the past, you're still human and everyone feels insecure at times. You have every right to be captain. You are one of the most powerful captains in the Gotei thirteen. I've seen you kick Shunsui's ass before and it looked like you weren't even trying. I'm just confirming what you already know. You don't need me to tell you everything."

Sora sighs, "What would I do without you Haruko?"

"Find a new vice-captain and spend a lot more time confiding with Unohana-taicho."

Sora laughs, "True, true, I would do all of my confiding in Unohana-san. But you always know exactly what to say to pick me up again." Sora refills their cups and makes a toast. "This one's for you for knowing everything about me."

"Almost everything anyway." They chit chat and finish the tea until Sora has to leave for the captains meeting.

On her way to the first division, Sora is formally greeted by everyone she passes. Like her division, everyone stares at her and whispers to their fiends when they don't think she can hear.

"Sora!" Jūshirō Ukitake calls for her attention. She stops and waits for him to catch up before continuing walking.

"You must be feeling better since you decided to come to the meeting today, Jūshirō."

He waves her comment off. "Look at yourself. What happened? Since the day you came to the academy and I started training you, the only request you ever had was that you would never have to do anything different with your hair. You've kept to your commitment ever since. Why change that now?" He looks at her with concern.

She looks away avoiding his expression. She cared deeply for Jūshirō as a teacher, mentor, and friend and didn't want him to find out just yet about her personal problems with Shunsui.

But, she didn't give enough credit to him and he guessed at her dilemma. "You had another fight with Shunsui again didn't you? This time was different then all the other fights you've had with him, wasn't it?"

She sighs and gives in explaining, "Yes, we had a very rough night. The sake could have added to it but it wasn't the cause. There was something I needed to know about him and I got my answer. Though it wasn't the answer I was looking for, I did learn something about myself. I'm not going to let who I use to be define me anymore. I'm going to live on my own for once and not depend on others all the time."

He smiles at her. "I'm glad you came to that understanding. I think in the long run it will make you a stronger captain but, I can talk to Shunsui for you…"

"No!" she yells a little too loud and causes some unneeded attention. She lowers her voice back down to normal. "This is something just between Shunsui and me. Anything he says to me has to come directly from him. Alright, Shiro-chan?" she jokes with him hoping to lighten the mood.

"I thought you said you weren't going to call me that again."

She laughs giddily as they continue on their way and she continually sings, "Shiro-chan, Shiro-chan…."

Soon after the two arrive and take their places, Yamamoto arrives and the meeting is called to order. Sora barely pays attention to the meeting and looks over at Jūshirō a few times to see him looking back and forth between her and Shunsui.

She then focuses her attention on the meeting in time to hear Yamamoto announce, "The sixth years at the academy are graduating soon and there needs to be a captain and vice-captain to supervise their last test. Are there any volunteers?"

Sora speaks up immediately, "Sir, I'll do it."

"Good, I will let you know of the date later today."

Sora tunes out the rest of the meeting again, happy that she has something else to keep her busy. As soon as the meeting is dismissed, she jets out of there to find Haruko.

"Haruko! Haruko!", Sora squeels as bounces up and down in excitment in front of her vice-captain.

"Hai", Haruko sighs not amused by Sora's antics.

"Guess what? We get pick of the litter this time."

Haruko is at attention. "We're going to be supervising the graduates?" Sora nods her head. "Aren't you just using this as an excuse?"

"No…" she laughs sheepishly. "Alright I am but I haven't got to hand pick my favorites in a long time."

"That's because you never volunteer." Sora chases after Haruko in a brief game of tag before they head back to the office to start the paper work for the day.

The time soon comes for the academy graduation test as Sora and Haruko supervise. Two of the candidates catch Sora's eye immediately.

"Hey, you two, come over here. What are your names?" A spunky girl and a scrawny, timid boy rush over.

The girl speaks first, "Yoruichi Shihōin."

Sora raises an eyebrow in curiosity. "Shihōin, eh? And you are?" she asks the boy.

"I am Kisuke Urahara, ma'am."

Sora forces a smile trying to cover up the small tick of annoyance on her forehead. "A word of advice, never call me ma'am, ever. Call me Sora-nee or onee-chan. Alright?"

"Hai, Sora-onee-chan." Sora sighs and chuckles.

Yoruichi grabs Kisuke by the back of his collar and pulls him away, "The test is about to start come on. Excuse us, Sora-chan!"

Sora watches as the two get ready for the test when Haruko comes up next to her.

"What are you thinking about? Are they the ones? Yoruichi Shihōin would be a good choice but I don't know about the boy."

"No, they are both good. Only, Kisuke Urahara doesn't show it. I want both of them in the tenth division."


End file.
